Lubricating system.



E. WOERNBR.

LUBRICATING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, 1910.

1,008,401. 0 Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

Mn] E55 E5 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

El 'GEN W OERNER, 0F CANNSTATT, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO THE FIR-M OF ROBERTIBQSCH, OF STUTTGART, GERMANY.

LUBRICATING srsrEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14:, 1911.

Application filed May 24, 1910. Serial No. 563,061.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Et'rGEN WOERNER, a subject of the Emperor ofGermany,residing at Cannstatt, Germany, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Lubricating Systems, and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to whidh it appertains tomake and use the same.

The present invention relates to means for making visible the quantitiesof oil fed from a lubricator, so that the action of the lubricator maybe supervised during the operation. To this end, it has been heretoforeproposed to feed, alternately, measured quantities of oil and ofcompressed air into the lubricator conduit, so as to divide up thethread of oil flowing toward the place of lubrication into shortsections, whose travel in the lubricator conduit can be observed bymeans of a sight tube interposed in the conduit for that purpose. Thisexpedient has the disadvantage that only every second stroke of the oilpump'can be made available for the feed, and that the air, arrivingunder pressure at the place to be lubricated, clears it of oil; so thatthis method is doubly expensive. Moreover, the scope of use for thismethod is very restricted, for the reason that on the occurrence of highpressures in the lubricator conduit, the air pumped in is compressed tosuch an extent that it fails to form sharp dividing partitions betweenthe successive-oil'subdivisions, so that viewed through the sight tubethey seem to constitute an uninterrupted oil thread.

The present invention consists in using,

instead of air bubbles, lubricating oil or some other suitable fluid,which is so chosen, however,'that the quantities of oil fed bysuccessive piston' strokes of the pump manifest themselves differently,in an optical sense. In this manner, we produce, as with an ordinary oilpump, a continuous oil thread, but one whose progress through the vlubricator pipe is nevertheless perceptible to the eye.

' The device hereinafter described for carrying the invention intoeffect includes an oil pumping device whereina series of pressure pumpsare arranged concentrically about an operating shaft preferably in theInterior of a cylindrical oil receptacle. In add1t1on to the oilreceptacle containing the pumps, another oil receptacle is provided,containing for instance, oil of a different or contrasting color. Alubricating pipe or conduit is connected to each pump and the actuatingmechanism is so chosen that the pump takes oil alternately from the twooil receptacles and feeds successively to the Inbricating pipe, thequantities of contrasting color thus taken. Accordingly each pump isprovided with a distributing slide valve positively driven from thepump-actuating shaft, and the number of strokes of -the distributingslide valves is made half as great as that of the pump pistons. Forsuccessive strokes of the pump pistons the distributing slide valvesfind themselves in different positions, and this makes it feasible, bysuitably disposed ports and passages, to establish the desiredconnections between the two oil receptacles of the pumps and thelubricator pipes; 2'. 0. during each two successive suction strokes thepumps are to connect alternately with the one and with the other of thetwo oil receptacles, and during the two pressure strokes the pumps areto connect with the lubricating pipes.

In the drawings, Figure '1 represents a top plan View of the apparatus;Fig. 2 represents a vertical section and partial elevation on a planeindicated by. the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of camS. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of cam s.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in the severalviews.

Upon the driving shaft A is splined a cam disk'S whose rim is so formedthat, measured in the direction of the axis, it passes through twohighest and two lowest points, of which the former lie at the terminalsof one diameter and thelatter at the terminals of a second diameter atright angles to the first. The pump pistons 6, constituting plungerpistons, play within bored out recesses in the bottom of the oilreceptacle. Their upper ends are provided with stirrups d, which overliethe rim of the cam S. In the projecting screw threaded overhangs of thestirrups are set screws e, whose heads enter stirrups f, so that thefeed action of the working pistons b can be adjusted. and by turning thethumb knobs which project outside the oil cylinder thereby turning thestirrups f, to accord with the particular requirements of use, evenduring the working of the oil pump.

Below the disk S, a second disk sis splined upon-the driving shaft A,whose rim constitutes an oblique section of a cylinder, and is overhungsimilarly to S by the upper ends of distributing slide valves 0.Therefore, with each revolution of the driving shaft, each of the pumppistons makes two strokes and each of the distributing"- slide valves 0one stroke. The oil receptacle 0 is surrounded by a second annular oilreceptacle 0,. The oil receptacle O'is connected with the pump by meansof the passages g, and the oil receptacle 0,, by means of the passagesh, when the distributing slide valves 0 are in the correspondingposition, through the ports of the said slide valves. Passages 5 lead tothe lubricating pipes 79, which are provided with glass sight tubes Z. a

In the position illustrated, the plane of the paper passes through thetwo lowermost points of the rim of the disk S, so that the pump pistonsare at the beginning of the suction stroke. that the diametrical planeintersecting the lowermost and the highest point of its rim is inclined45 to the plane of the paper. The lowermost point of the rim of .9appears, therefore, in the drawings, ats, and the highest point falls infront of the plane of the paper, and is, therefore, not shown.

In the position shown, the lower edge 0 of the recess in the slide valveappearing at the left in Fig. 1 is in line with the upper edge 2', ofthe passage 2' leading to the lubricator pipe. Furthermore, the loweredge 0 of a port in the slide valve is in line with the lower edge m, ofa passage m connecting the valve casing with the pump cylinder; and,finally, the upper edge 0 of the port of the slide valve is in line withthe lower edge 9 of the passage g. In this position, however, the slidevalve cuts the pump off from both oil receptacles O and 0 as well asfrom the outlet passage 2'. Where the passage 9 intersects the pumpcylinder, the piston 12 .is turned down to a lesser diameter. Thismanner of completing the passage ,9 is shown in the drawing merely forthe sake of clearness of illustration. The passage 9 could be carriedaround the pump, with the same effect.

If the driving shaft is rotated inv the. direction of the hands of awatch, the two pistons 6 shown begin their suction stroke.Simultaneously, the slide valve 0, shown at the left, continues itsupward movement already begun and connects the passages g and m, bymeans of the port in the slide valve. The oil can, therefore, followingthe suction of the piston, enter below the piston, from the receptacle0. After the driving shaft has rotated 45, the upper The disk 8 is soadjusted,

edge a, of the slide valve port and the upper edge 9, of the passage 9register'and at that time the slide valve itself has reached its highestposition. If the rotation of the driving shaft is continued, the slidevalve begins to descend, whereas the piston still moves upwardly, untilthe shaft has rotated 90 The piston then attains its highest positionand all the ports are momentarily closed. At the beginning of the nowfollowing pressure stroke, -'the slide valve continues its downwardmovement, and, as soon as the lower edge 0, has passed the upper edge ithe space below the piston is in communication with the outlet passagez'and the suckedin oilis delivered thereinto. While the shaft is rotating90 farther, and while accordingly the piston is completing its firstpressure stroke, the slide valve moves continuously downward withoutaltering the connections then established. At the instant in which thepiston completes its first pressure stroke, the left hand slide valveattains the position of the slide valve shown at the right hand side ofFig. 1. For an instant, all ports are then again closed. Now follows thesecond suction stroke of the piston. During the first 45 of the rotationof the shaft, the slide valve continues its downward movement and beginsits upward movement, so that, after completion of the second suctionstroke it again takes the position in which the right hand slide valveis illustrated. During this time period, the space beneath the piston isconnected with the port it and the piston sucks oil from the receptacle0,. During the following second pressure stroke, the slide valve againmoves continuously upward, and the edges 0 and c successively pass theedges 6, and i, of the passage 71, so that the oil sucked in isdelivered into the said oil outlet passage 71. All of the parts have nowreturned to their original position and the same operation begins an'ew.

As coloring media, all substances are suitable which permit the oiltaken from the one receptacle to appear difierently to the eye than thattaken from the other receptacle, and which do not prejudice thelubricating function of the oil, nor exert an injurious eifectupon themachine parts with which the oil comes in contact. For instance, in oneof the receptacles we could mix a little ground or crushed graphite withthe oil. It sufiices, however, to supply one of the receptacles with oilwhich is by nature or origin of somewhat darker color than that of theother receptacle. Even water may be used in one of the receptacles,under certain circumstances.

What I. claim is:

1. An arrangement for making visible the quantities of oil fed in alubricating system, comprising a plurality of reservoirs of opticallycontrasted oil, in combination with a sight-tube through whichquantities of oil are fed from one reservoir in successive alternationwith quantities of oil from another reservoir, whereby the oil passesthrough the sight-tube in the form of successive optically contrastedliquid sections.

2. In a lubricating system, a feed pump, a plurality of reservoirs forthe lubricant, a feed pipe connected to the delivery orifice of the pumpand containing a sight tube, conduits connecting the suction side of thepump to the different reservoirs, and a valve controlling the conduitsto put the pump into communication with the difl'erent reservoirs insuccession, whereby when the'reservoirs are supplied with opticallycontrasted liquids there will be fed through the sight tube a lubricantmade up of individual optically contrasted sections.

3. In a lubricating system, a plurality of feed pumps, a correspondingnumber of feed pipes containing sight tubes and connected to thedelivery orifices of the several pumps, a plurality of reservoirs forthe lubricant,

.- conduits connecting at least two of the reservoirs to the suctionside of each pump, and

valves controlling the conduits to put the pumps into communication withtheir associated reservoirs in succession, whereby a when the reservoirsconnected to each pump are supplied with optically contrasted liquidsthere will be fed through the sight tube a lubricant made up ofindividual optically contrasted sections.

4:. In a lubricating system, a feed pump, two reservoirs for thelubricant, a feed pipe connected to the delivery orifice of the pump andcontaining a sight tube, conduits connecting the suction side of the'pump to the two reservoirs, a slide valve controlling the conduits toput them alternately into communication with the pump, and mechanism'for so driving the pump and slide valve that for every stroke of theslide valve there are two strokes of the pump, whereby, when thereservoirs are supplied with optically contrasted liquids there will befed through the sight tube a lubricant made up of optically contrastedsections.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

EUGEN WGERNER.

Witnesses Max ANSGHUTZ, REIN'HQLD ELwnnT.

